Sequels that didn't match or surpass the games before it

What, in your opinion, are some games that never equalled or surpassed the quality set in a game before it. It's hard not to compare a sequel to an original, even when you should maybe be reviewing the game as an individual, but my choices below reflect the comparisons I made.

- To me, both sequels to F.E.A.R. never reached the same heights set in the scary original. The psychological horror was never treated as well and the stories fell dreadfully flat despite the promise of intrigue the first game opened up on.

- Fallout: New Vegas was not as engrossing or fulfilling as Fallout 3; the open world wasn't as big, the increase in glitches was outrageous, and the technical side to the game was that of an unfinished one with constant stuttering framerates, screen tearing, and potential freezing.

- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception was an exciting and perilous adventure with likeable protagonist Nathan Drake back again, but it just wasn't as good as the phenomenal second game. Uncharted 2 was always going to be challenging to surpass.

- Dead Space is my favourite game, and a sequel would had to have done something truly special to level it. Dead Space 2 wasn't nearly as perfect, and whereas the first game was constantly terrifying with a silent protagonist pushing through the horror, the talkative Isaac in #2 (and the rest of the cast) never made an impact on the not-so-good plot, and the occasionally cheap from-behind attacks by enemies was kind of annoying. Still an amazing game, but it was easy to point out the negatives when I made a comparison between the two games.

Edit: Infamous 2 was no way near in the same league as the first game. Sure the karma moments resulted in more diverse plot paths that granted different powers and the gameplay as a whole saw many improvements, but otherwise the story in Infamous was slow but captivating and ended brilliantly, whereas in the sequel it wasn't interesting just like the boring cast of characters.

Yeah I have to agree with Uncharted 3. One thing that really annoys me is that Nate didn't grow as a character, by the end of the game he was the same as the beginning. At least in UC2 there was a death of a known character that put things in perspective for Drake and of course the love triangle that was really well done. Gameplay wise it was as good though.

God of War 3, Imo the worst in the series, just a poor example of how to do a sequel, and a shining example of how graphics seem to trump gameplay these days.

Resident Evil 5, to be honest there really wasn't a way to make a better Resident Evil than 4, the only thing they could have done was try to copy perfection and that still wouldn't have been as goodPoisoN_Facecam0

You would have an argement if you mentioned story because I couldn't disagree more with your opinion on the gameplay. GOWIII added so much and streamlined the weapon switch option. GOWIII plays far better than the past games and actually perfects the GOW style gameplay, the only reason one would find GOWIII gameplay lacking is if you weren't a fan of the GOW gameplay in the first place.

And you know how RE5 could have been better? Shinji F'ing Mikami :)

NFS Shift 2 was a bit disappointing after NFS Shift which remains one of my favourite circuit racing games

NFS Shift 2 was a bit disappointing after NFS Shift which remains one of my favourite circuit racing games

SadPSPAddict

Oh yes I can't believe I forgot to mention that. NFS: Shift was excellent, and Shift 2: Unleashed (from the previews) looked to be a worthy successor and improvement from the first. However, it was anything but in my opinion. Not only was it really challenging because of bizarre physics during collisions with opponents in which you always lost out, but the aggressive driving rewards were non-existent, and being rewarded for precision driving aswell as aggressive in the first game was really great, but for no apparent reason it was left out in the sequel. Graphics were improved, but otherwise a major disappointment for me.

Fallout: New Vegas was not a sequel though. And bethesda has a very bad track record of putting out unfinished product. Blame the management in that company that is over zealous about rushing stuff out so financial backers get paid.

Resident Evil (after number 3 including code veronica as this was actually the true sequel to number 2)

don't get me wrong number 4 is great but for me resident evil was all about zombies and true survival horror which seemed to completely get losed once it reached 5.

Uncharted 3 - as much as i liked this one i still 100% in my mind see it as a complete copy of the second story, instead of truly being more orginal and a better story, for me personally i want to know whats happened between the 2 games i don't want me to figure it out, why come to the end of the first game nate is getting with elena then the second they aren't together but thats ok because it explains that nate goes off on his adventures and she gets her dream job, by the end he's near enough been killed, he see's life in a different light, but then by the start of the third he back to square one again, and then they get back together again i mean come on that stories been done the series just never seemed to grow. and a dissapointing end boss battle.

Yeah I have to agree with Uncharted 3. One thing that really annoys me is that Nate didn't grow as a character, by the end of the game he was the same as the beginning. At least in UC2 there was a death of a known character that put things in perspective for Drake and of course the love triangle that was really well done. Gameplay wise it was as good though.

[QUOTE="PoisoN_Facecam0"]God of War 3, Imo the worst in the series, just a poor example of how to do a sequel, and a shining example of how graphics seem to trump gameplay these days.

Resident Evil 5, to be honest there really wasn't a way to make a better Resident Evil than 4, the only thing they could have done was try to copy perfection and that still wouldn't have been as goodSwift_Boss_A

You would have an argement if you mentioned story because I couldn't disagree more with your opinion on the gameplay. GOWIII added so much and streamlined the weapon switch option. GOWIII plays far better than the past games and actually perfects the GOW style gameplay, the only reason one would find GOWIII gameplay lacking is if you weren't a fan of the GOW gameplay in the first place.

And you know how RE5 could have been better? Shinji F'ing Mikami :)

I really loved Gow 1, GOW2 was still pretty damn good, and GOW3 was one of the few games I regretted buying this gen, i mean i could have rented it and done it in an evening, also the story was predictable (also to be fair I love japanese hack and slash, DMC, Bayonetta, El Shaddai) and GOW 3 just felt somehow floaty and sloppy at the same time, the combat just didn't have that oomph that the first 2 did. it being 5 hours long also didn't help.PoisoN_Facecam0

I think I have to go all the way back to the PS1 days to think of a sequel that was truly bigger and better than its predecessor.

When you play a game for the first time, it's new and exciting. When you play the sequel, it's pretty much the same thing. That's about a 2 - 4 point deuction right there. Not too many games can overcome that.

Uncharted 3: It became a lot better (at least for me) when the aiming was patched. That said however, ND had a juggernaut of a game in UC2, so I can't really blame them for not releasing a sequel that good (still a great game though).

Bioshock 2: It felt like a standalone expansion rather than a sequel.

F.E.A.R. 2 and 3: Still decent games, but pale in comparison to what the first one was.

Call of Duty 3: To be fair, it was something new that was introduced to Call of Duty (an actually story line, quick button events). That said, it really didn't work out that great.

GRAW 2: Same with Bioshock 2.

I think this crown is reserved for any EA Sports release. FIFA and Madden to be exact. Rinse and repeat. I hear their exclusive license to the NFL runs out, hopefully SEGA has been preparing. Anyone have any news on that?

What, in your opinion, are some games that never equalled or surpassed the quality set in a game before it. It's hard not to compare a sequel to an original, even when you should maybe be reviewing the game as an individual, but my choices below reflect the comparisons I made.

- To me, both sequels to F.E.A.R. never reached the same heights set in the scary original. The psychological horror was never treated as well and the stories fell dreadfully flat despite the promise of intrigue the first game opened up on.

- Fallout: New Vegas was not as engrossing or fulfilling as Fallout 3; the open world wasn't as big, the increase in glitches was outrageous, and the technical side to the game was that of an unfinished one with constant stuttering framerates, screen tearing, and potential freezing.

- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception was an exciting and perilous adventure with likeable protagonist Nathan Drake back again, but it just wasn't as good as the phenomenal second game. Uncharted 2 was always going to be challenging to surpass.

- Dead Space is my favourite game, and a sequel would had to have done something truly special to level it. Dead Space 2 wasn't nearly as perfect, and whereas the first game was constantly terrifying with a silent protagonist pushing through the horror, the talkative Isaac in #2 (and the rest of the cast) never made an impact on the not-so-good plot, and the occasionally cheap from-behind attacks by enemies was kind of annoying. Still an amazing game, but it was easy to point out the negatives when I made a comparison between the two games.

Edit: Infamous 2 was no way near in the same league as the first game. Sure the karma moments resulted in more diverse plot paths that granted different powers and the gameplay as a whole saw many improvements, but otherwise the story in Infamous was slow but captivating and ended brilliantly, whereas in the sequel it wasn't interesting just like the boring cast of characters.

Venom_Raptor

I agree with you on F.E.A.R. and the fact that Uncharted 2 was hard to better. I would personally say BioShock 2 (impossible to beat the masterpiece original), Batman: Arkham City (not as good as Asylum - unfocused plot, too many villains), inFamous 2, Condemned 2 and Dead Rising 2. One of the major releases would definitely be Max Payne 3. I can't help but sympathize with Rockstar Vienna, who had to attempt to beat Remedy's previous installments while catering for a modern audience. It just fell short of the mark set by The Fall of Max Payne. Still a good game, but not as good as the aformentioned predecessors.

Prototype 2 - The first game is tons better. The Darkness II - Loved it but it has nothing on The Darkness. Uncharted 3 - Dont get me started, UC2 was superior in every way. Killzone 3 - Great game but not as good 2. Saints Row 3 - Watch Angryjoe review, it sums up everything perfectly. Marvel Vs Capcom 3 - No comment . Modern Warfare 2 + 3 - Say what you want about COD but 4 was amazing. God of War 3 - Great game, not as good as 2. Star Wars Force Unleashed II - Awful. Call of Juarez The Cartel - Absolutely terrible!! Socom 4 - Not bad but not great. Mercenaries 2 - Ugh... Resistance 2 - Ugh.. Far Cry 2 - ZzZzZzZz cooldust

Agree on Killzone 3, God of War III (still amazing) and Far Cry 2...

DMC2. No question about it.

Guess you can still count this on the PS3 boards since its included in the HD collection.

Far Cry 2 & Resident Evil 5 for reasons very well known.

Dragon Age II. For the rare moments you leave the city it's to go over the same copy/pasted areas with brainless combat.

GTA IV is boring compared to San Andreas. Realism needs to GTFO of GTA. The controls felt "off" like Niko was always intoxicated.

Jak II HD is a cheap frustrating little game.

Gotta disagree with Uncharted 3. I find 2 inferior in most ways; that game has the benefit of lower expectations and nostalgia.

I liked Dead Space 2 a lot more than Dead Space 1.

Uncharted 3 is definitely the most recent one that comes to mind. It's a great game that kinda falls apart by the end but doesn't even approach the level of greatness set by Uncharted 2. Another one that comes to mind is Killzone 3, both the campaign and the multiplayer are inferior to KZ2's imo.

In reponse to TC saying Dead Space 2 was worst than Dead Space 1, I actually thought it was better. I never thought Dead Space was that special of a game and I never understood the immense praise it got, to me it wasn't scary at all. It was a fun horror, action game in a cool sci-fi setting. Dead Space 2 delivered on top of that and made Isaac an actual character(not much of one but still) which is a better move than leaving him silent.

Far Cry 2 & Resident Evil 5 for reasons very well known.

Dragon Age II. For the rare moments you leave the city it's to go over the same copy/pasted areas with brainless combat.

GTA IV is boring compared to San Andreas. Realism needs to GTFO of GTA. The controls felt "off" like Niko was always intoxicated.

Jak II HD is a cheap frustrating little game.

Gotta disagree with Uncharted 3. I find 2 inferior in most ways; that game has the benefit of lower expectations and nostalgia.

Floppy_Jim

• Resident Evil 5, where is the horror?
• Splinter Cell Conviction (I know this is a PS3 forum and it's not on PS3 but I will still mention it), where is the stealth?
• Prince of Persia (2008), where is the challenge.

[QUOTE="PoisoN_Facecam0"] I really loved Gow 1, GOW2 was still pretty damn good, and GOW3 was one of the few games I regretted buying this gen, i mean i could have rented it and done it in an evening, also the story was predictable (also to be fair I love japanese hack and slash, DMC, Bayonetta, El Shaddai) and GOW 3 just felt somehow floaty and sloppy at the same time, the combat just didn't have that oomph that the first 2 did. it being 5 hours long also didn't help.Swift_Boss_A

Far Cry 2 & Resident Evil 5 for reasons very well known.

Dragon Age II. For the rare moments you leave the city it's to go over the same copy/pasted areas with brainless combat.

GTA IV is boring compared to San Andreas. Realism needs to GTFO of GTA. The controls felt "off" like Niko was always intoxicated.

Jak II HD is a cheap frustrating little game.

Gotta disagree with Uncharted 3. I find 2 inferior in most ways; that game has the benefit of lower expectations and nostalgia.

Floppy_Jim

I loved the realism in GTA IV, even if it didn't include as much to do in San Andreas. Hopefully GTA V will prove to upgrade into the PS3's San Andreas or something lol

i think most sequels fall flat but it doesnt mean that it wasnt good...

anything after cod4 isn't as good. i think the feel of the guns, the sound...the maps didn't feel quite as good

dragon age 2- disapointed at not having a grey warden story...and hated the fact that it was set in one area....

far cry 2- it made me soo dizzy....too much driving...

assasins creed brotherhood-story was meh until the very end

[QUOTE="cooldust"]Prototype 2 - The first game is tons better. The Darkness II - Loved it but it has nothing on The Darkness. Uncharted 3 - Dont get me started, UC2 was superior in every way. Killzone 3 - Great game but not as good 2. Saints Row 3 - Watch Angryjoe review, it sums up everything perfectly. Marvel Vs Capcom 3 - No comment . Modern Warfare 2 + 3 - Say what you want about COD but 4 was amazing. God of War 3 - Great game, not as good as 2. Star Wars Force Unleashed II - Awful. Call of Juarez The Cartel - Absolutely terrible!! Socom 4 - Not bad but not great. Mercenaries 2 - Ugh... Resistance 2 - Ugh.. Far Cry 2 - ZzZzZzZz Mikey2K10

Agree on Killzone 3, God of War III (still amazing) and Far Cry 2...

Nooo, not Far Cry 2! :(

[QUOTE="Floppy_Jim"]

Far Cry 2 & Resident Evil 5 for reasons very well known.

Dragon Age II. For the rare moments you leave the city it's to go over the same copy/pasted areas with brainless combat.

GTA IV is boring compared to San Andreas. Realism needs to GTFO of GTA. The controls felt "off" like Niko was always intoxicated.

Jak II HD is a cheap frustrating little game.

Gotta disagree with Uncharted 3. I find 2 inferior in most ways; that game has the benefit of lower expectations and nostalgia.

MethodManFTW

I like your sig under that reply. Yes, nostalgia or the equivalent word for what is only a 3 year old game.

I loved the realism in GTA IV, even if it didn't include as much to do in San Andreas. Hopefully GTA V will prove to upgrade into the PS3's San Andreas or something lol

Venom_Raptor

Yeah, that was the main thing. SA had so much more to do and free roaming was way more fun.

ugh... so many, where do i even begin?

bioshock 2

both uncharted sequels

infamous 2

dead space 2

i could literally go on and on forever on this one so i'll just say that VERY few sequels have lived up to the originals recently..

Just to mention a few:

-Bioshock 2 wasn't as good as Bioshock, but was still really good.

-Dragon Age II is obvious; way worse than the first one.

-Dead Space 2: Great game but not as good as the first.

Resident Evil 5 (Doesn't even resemble the series it once was... It's not even remotely the same genre any more)

Mass Effect 2 (the first game showed promise and the second game took it in a completely different direction)

ugh... so many, where do i even begin?

bioshock 2

both uncharted sequels

infamous 2

dead space 2

i could literally go on and on forever on this one so i'll just say that VERY few sequels have lived up to the originals recently..

ShangTsung17

Uncharted 3 and Diablo 3 come to mind as obvious choices.

[QUOTE="PoisoN_Facecam0"] I really loved Gow 1, GOW2 was still pretty damn good, and GOW3 was one of the few games I regretted buying this gen, i mean i could have rented it and done it in an evening, also the story was predictable (also to be fair I love japanese hack and slash, DMC, Bayonetta, El Shaddai) and GOW 3 just felt somehow floaty and sloppy at the same time, the combat just didn't have that oomph that the first 2 did. it being 5 hours long also didn't help.Swift_Boss_A

come on god of war3 didnt do eveything better than 2 or1....1 had the best story....1&2 had better puzzles than 3...

also didnt like how the magic was gimped (streamlined)

i still like it a lot but you got to realize there are flaws and some people might actually think it pales in comparison to the first 2.

There's a good chance that happened, I ended up playing the DMC's right before Gow 2 came out, at the very least i would call GOW3's gamplay dated then, because if it can't "keep up" with other games in the genre then its not doing a very good job, and yes, it was something like 5 hours 16 minutes my first time through on normal.PoisoN_Facecam0

ive seen a lot of your posts...don't be offended but i don't think you like games much....jsmoke03

When a genre advances, games in the same genre that don't make those advancements look bad. GoW 3 is such a mindless game when it comes to story and gameplay.MethodManFTW

[QUOTE="PoisoN_Facecam0"]There's a good chance that happened, I ended up playing the DMC's right before Gow 2 came out, at the very least i would call GOW3's gamplay dated then, because if it can't "keep up" with other games in the genre then its not doing a very good job, and yes, it was something like 5 hours 16 minutes my first time through on normal.Swift_Boss_A

ive seen a lot of your posts...don't be offended but i don't think you like games much....jsmoke03

did anyone mention assassin's creed?

Splinter Cell Conviction - Most dumbed down, & worst sequel in the history of gaming. How does a stealth game turn into a action game? They butchered what was once an amazing, complex, rewarding, strategic, stealth game & turned it into action/shooter game for the COD crowd

Resident Evil 5 -Yep... Butchered what was once beautiful & turned into a linear action game with absolutely no horror.

Red Faction Armagedon - Guerilla was a great game. Going from a open world to a closed off, linear, confined world didnt do the game any justice.

Call Of Juarez The Cartel - I actually enjoyed the 1st 2 games. They felt like authentic western FPS games. Going modern just ruined any charm the series had originally had.

Call Of Duty 4 - The only bad thing i can really pin on this game is that i hated the direction of the multiplayer. I personally feel Cod3s MP design was the better direction to go.

GTA 4 - Amazing game but SA had a better story, with great characters, more crazy & memorable missions, along with a complete sandbox of crazy possiblites. GTA 4 felt like it was trying to be to authentic & real, & also threw away its amazing sandbox gameplay.

FEAR 3 - feels like another generic military shooter

White Knight Chronicles 2. Loved the first, one of my fav. games/JRPGs this gen. but the sequal was just awful.

gow 3

gta 4

final fantasy XIII

crysis 2

mgs 4

saint rows the third

infamous 2

that's all I can think of right now

did anyone mention assassin's creed?

big_boss1988

Uncharted 3, the story couldn't surpass or even match with UC2's campaign, the multiplayer did though, but that's not enough